To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions in (a) 2013 and (b)
2014 commanding officers have requested legal advice following allegations of (i)
sexual assault, (ii) exposure, (iii) voyeurism, (iv) sexual activity in a public lavatory
and (v) other forms of sexual misconduct; and if he will make a statement.
<p>The information requested is given below. No allegations of sexual activity in
a public lavatory resulted in a request for legal advice from a Commanding Officer.</p><p>
</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Offence</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p><p><strong>until
24 October</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sexual Assault</p></td><td><p>65</p></td><td><p>48</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Exposure</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Voyeurism</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Other
Sexual Misconduct</p></td><td><p>61</p></td><td><p>29</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>135</p></td><td><p>81</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many allegations of (a) sexual assault,
(b) exposure, (c) voyeurism, (d) sexual activity in a public lavatory, (e) rape and
(f) other forms of sexual misconduct have been recorded by the Crime Statistics and
Analysis Cell in each month since April 2014 relating to the (i) Army, (ii) Navy,
(iii) RAF and (iv) reservists; and if he will make a statement.
<p>The table shows the number of allegations of rape, sexual assault, exposure, voyeurism,
and other forms of sexual misconduct, recorded by the Service police in each month
since April 2014 up to 24 October 2014, broken down by Service.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April 2014</p></td><td><p>May
2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August 2014</p></td><td><p>September
2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="8"><p><strong>Number
Of Rape Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British Army</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Navy</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Air Force</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Sexual Assault (By Penetration) Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Sexual Assault (No Penetration) Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Navy</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Air Force</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number of Exposure Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Voyeurism Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Air Force</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Other Sexual Offences Under The Sexual Offences Act
2003 Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notes:
The table only details investigations where the appropriate Service police have jurisdiction
and investigative lead.</p><p>The allegation recorded against each Service is that
of the victim.</p><p> </p><p>No such allegations have been reported to the Service
police in respect of sexual activity in public lavatory or from any of the Reserve
Forces for the period detailed in the above tables.</p><p> </p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made in
assessing the systems used by (a) his Department, (b) the Army, (c) the Navy and (d)
the RAF for recording service complaints; and if he will make a statement.
<p>Accurate data is clearly important for assessing the efficiency and effectiveness
of the complaints process. Service complaints data is captured by all three Services
on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system. The system and the supporting
guidance for users have been refined following internal audits of JPA's effectiveness
and extent of its use in 2008 and 2012.</p><p>A third audit is being carried out to
review the adequacy and effectiveness of actions taken in response to the audit in
2012. The Service Complaints Commissioner is fully involved in the audit.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many reports of allegations of (a)
sexual assault, (b) exposure, (c) voyeurism, (d) sexual activity in a public lavatory
and (e) other forms of sexual misconduct were made by commanding officers to each
of the service police forces in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date; and if he will make
a statement.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many nursery places his Department
offers; how many applications have there been for such places in each year since 2010;
and how many such places currently on offer are occupied.
<p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 March 2014, (Official Report,
column 720W) to the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson).</p><p>
</p><p> </p>
<p>The table shows approximately how much the Department has spent in each Financial
Year since 2010 on teaching English to Service personnel. It is difficult to give
exact figures as, in some cases, the cost of English tuition cannot be separated from
that for other tuition areas.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td>Financial Year
£ million</td><td>2010-11</td><td>2011-12</td><td>2012-13</td><td>2013-14</td></tr><tr><td>Expenditure</td><td>£1.637</td><td>£1.667</td><td>£1.695</td><td>£1.735</td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p>In addition, for those who speak English as a second language the Ministry
of Defence has spent the following amounts on ‘English Speakers of Other Languages’
assessments.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td>Financial Year</td><td>2010-11</td><td>2011-12</td><td>2012-13</td><td>2013-14</td></tr><tr><td>Expenditure</td><td>£13,943</td><td>£71,628</td><td>£43,159</td><td>£22,646</td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel have been placed on
his Department's referral scheme co-ordinated by the Joint Service Housing Advice
Office in each year since 2010; and how many personnel so referred successfully found
accommodation through the scheme in each year since 2010.
<p>The number of personnel who have applied to the Joint Service Housing Advice Office
referral scheme and have been housed is as follows:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number
of applicants*</p></td><td><p>Number housed via the scheme</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>196</p></td><td><p>24</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>185</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>130</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>866</p></td><td><p>36</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p><p>(as
at 24 October)</p></td><td><p>174</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>* In 2013, a database transfer of historical data only retained
those applicants who were still eligible between the years 2010-2012 at that time.
Consequently figures for 2010-12 are only for eligible applicants whereas those for
2013-14 also include ineligible applicants.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications there have been to
the Armed Forces' Help to Buy scheme since it was launched in April 2014; and how
many applicants to that scheme have successfully secured mortgages through the scheme.
<p>We launched the £200 million Forces Help to Buy Scheme in April 2014 to encourage
and support those Service families that aspire to home ownership. I am pleased to
report that the scheme has proved very popular. As at 28 October 2014, it had received
close to 5,000 applications. It has already helped over 1,500 Service personnel get
on, or stay on, the property ladder.</p>
<p>The Government estimates that there are 4.5 million Armed Forces veterans in the
United Kingdom. In the UK, veterans are defined as those who have served for at least
one day in HM Armed Forces. This figure includes both former Regular and Reservist
personnel.</p><p> </p>
<p>The Department uses different management information systems to record its recruitment
of civilians and Service personnel. The requested information has, therefore, been
provided in two separate tables attached.</p><p> </p><p> </p>